SkiftStats: The countries most open to foreign travelers

Skift Take

Iceland, which tops the table, has certainly welcomed tourists in droves over the last few years. U.S. came 102 out of 140, which jibes with how it is perceived worldwide. UK is 55, twice more welcoming than U.S.

Earlier this month, the World Economic Forum came out with the annual “Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report” for 2013, and it is an incredible treasure trove of data, both hard data and survey data. Among the dozens of variables it used to measure the overall competitiveness of countries, one of the measures was how welcoming are the locals to foreign visitors in their own countries.

That question –among many others — was put to about 15,000 executives in 140 countries globally, as part of its annual “Executive Opinion Survey“, and came back with the results. The results below are a weighted average of the same question asked in early 2011 and again in early 2012.

How welcome are foreign visitors in your country? [1 = very unwelcome; 7 = very welcome]. “Welcome” is more neutral world that encompasses attributes like “friendly” and being “open” to foreign visitors in the country, hence more quantifiable.